Chapitre 17: Chapter 17
"So, Auri, you worship Y'ffre?"
"I do."
"In High Rock, our equivalent would be Jephre, though people rarely see him as someone to be worshipped. Can you tell me a bit about how your people see Y'ffre?"
"In Valenwood, Y'ffre is known by many names."
Athias, seated on one of the metal chairs in the Dwemer bedroom, looked beyond the open doors, watching for any Falmer activity in the hall. Remiel and Auri were deeper in the room, quietly talking.
"-She taught the birds to sing and gave the rivers their tinkling, ethereal tune." Auri continued her, rather dramatized in his opinion, explanation on the deity. What exactly was that suppose to mean? "She allowed us Bosmer to shape the Green to provide food and shelter but in exchange we were forbidden from harming any plant life."
"Hence the Green Pact!" Remiel eagerly exclaimed but quickly caught herself and reigned in her voice. She mouthed an apology to him but Athias disregarded it with a wave of this hand; they'd cut down a number of Falmer in the area and he didn't see any signs of them coming this way. If something did happen they'd deal it with it. No need to make a big deal out of an honest mistake.
"I'm, uh, sorry if I offended you when we first met. I hadn't realized your…choice in food was a religious act at the time." Remiel gave an awkward but genuine apology.
"Hmmm? Oh, you mean after we dealt with those bandits." Auri smiled. "I accept it, but you didn't have to apologize. I've noticed that the Bosmer outside of Valenwood don't bother upholding the pact." The normally playful elf huffed, annoyance spreading across her face. "They dress all fancy and try to please the nords here. Salad eaters."
Athias snorted. Only she would see that as an insult.
"What about you, Athias?" Remiel suddenly asked. "Are you religious?"
"No. No offense to you Auri, but I couldn't live life worried about whether or not my every action will please some distant god." Athias said, no thinking needed on his part. He didn't see why people worshipped anyone or anything in this world.
Respect and admire? Sure.
The Nine Divines encompassed respectable spheres and protected mortals in various ways even if their influence wasn't always obvious.
The Daedra? They had all that power at their disposal but Athias found them to be too close to mortals. Why worship things that could be just as vain and selfish as any of them? Power? Their relics and blessings were nothing to scoff at, all of which weren't limited by something like game balance anymore, but magic literally existed. If one wanted power, dealing with those entities was a desperately stupid way to go about it.
"None taken." Auri said.
"What about you Remiel?" Athias asked.
"I guess it depends on what you consider worship to be. I don't follow the tenets of any of the gods so by that definition I'm not religious but I do respect the things many of them represent." Remiel explained, thoughtful. "Many of their followers condemn the Dwemer and their views, so some would label me a heretic for my interest in them. What's so heretical about understanding lost technology?"
Athias shrugged. Religion always seemed to be the driving force behind unnecessary conflict; a detail shared between his previous and current life. Though in this world, daedra worshippers brought near world ending chaos throughout history, so harsh religious persecution made a bit more sense.
A circumstantial smidge more sense.
"Well, I'm glad you two aren't bothered by the Dwemer. I can talk about my findings without worrying about offending anyone." Remiel said, an earnest smile on her face as she pulled out a few old journals. "Did you know, so few ciphers of Dwemer language exist and even fewer are considered to be accurate that I've have had to teach myself their language?"
They rested in the quiet room for a little over an hour, exchanging small talk.
x-X-x
They were back in the main chamber.
The trio stood on something of a balcony, now on the lower levels of Nchuand-Zel but still a good floor above the flooded ground level. Falmer still patrolled the area, fewer in number and closer to the upper levels, in search of them.
There was a door on the ground level not far from them. A good leap into the water, a short swim later, and they'd be exploring another wing of the ruin. A horribly stupid idea that'd see them full of poison tipped arrows before they surfaced.
Maybe tie some string to the end of one of Auri's arrows and have those two rappel down while he held it in place? A slight swing and they'd be able to jump onto some fragmented stone poking out of the water. No, that was just as stupid. Even if they made it down without making a sound how would he follow? Jump into the water alone? Maybe his muffle spell would help but there would be so many Falmer beyond the range of his magicka that at least one arrow was bound to hit him. And if the one with the staff hit him? Being on the receiving end of cryomancy while wet and poisoned was a death sentence.
This route was a dead-end.
Athias nudged for the other two to follow and they squeezed back into the door they come out of.
There had to be some way around these Falmer and to the control room.
x-X-x
Five automatons.
Two were of dwarven spiders, one on the left and the other on the right. The two behind those were of dwarven spheres, tall almost humanoid metal constructs that rolled about on metal spheres rather than walking on two legs. They followed the same pattern as the spiders, one on the left and the other on the right. Then, to finish things off, was a dwarven Centurion. Giant and imposing, the large metal construct stood completely still behind a chest placed dead center on a stone pedestal.
"Well this isn't ominous." Remiel voiced their shared thoughts as they approached the chest, walking between the spheres and spiders. A bloodied body, garbed in dark robes like the previous researcher, laid in a pool of blood at the base of the pedestal. "Normally I'd say these automatons are being used for decorations but this feels more like a warning. I think we can all agree, that that chest is a trap."
That went without saying.
"We're still going to open it right?" Remiel asked, her eagerness a match for his curiosity. Both of them were reckless fools.
"That's the plan." Athias confirmed, trying to figure out how exactly to go about it.
"It's a horrible plan." Auri said with a sigh. "Let's try not to end up like that man at least." And Auri was just as reckless for going along with it, reluctant or not.
The most vital part to coming up with a plan was information. While Remiel recovered a worn journal from the body, Athias kneeled down to examine the man's wounds.
Slash marks. No remnants of poison. And-
Athias dislodged a bolt from the man's side. The tip of the bloodied projectile was made of the Dwemer's bronze like metal.
"A bolt, usually used by dwemer ballista or spheres. This man was most certainly killed by automatons." Remiel noted while flipping through pages of the journal. "And apparently he wanted to sneak back treasure to buy himself a castle. Greed got him killed but I'm sure the same won't happen to us….hopefully."
"I don't see a ballista set up anywhere." Athias said as he looked up and around for the contraption. Those oversized crossbows were hard to miss in game despite being few and far between.
"I don't mean the stationary ones. I'm referring to the automaton. From what I've gathered they were one of the last designs of the Dwemer which means they're few and far between compared to the others. If we come across one, I hope there's time for me to take it apart."
Automatons called ballista. Athias couldn't say he recalled anything of that nature in these ruins, but maybe that was just another sign of how unreliable his old memories were in this situation.
He stood up, analyzing the odd chest.
Automatons acted based on orders given to them. If his guess was right, these things posing as statues had no orders involving intruders in the ruins and were made with the sole purpose of ensuring the safety of the chest's contents.
This could be the perfect way to test out Remiel's plan on a much smaller scale.
"I have an idea." Athias declared.
x-X-x
How we feeling about the new line breakers for new scenes. Windfall recommended I just use a - and while I appreciate you taking the time to slide me an answer, I'm a total sucker for aesthetics. The three Xs just look cool to someone as easily entertained as me and I don't think they're as annoying for people use text to speech as a shit ton of =s. A solid compromise.
Anyways, what an odd place to establish the MC's religious views, but it fit well here. Just a little talking and exploration to set up for the craziness of the next chapter. Hope you all enjoyed.
As always, support me on patreon if you want to read ahead or just want to help me write full time. Free members also get access to my drafts which admittedly I don't make too many while I'm super focused on an active story. I might post a star wars draft and a pathfinder draft of ideas that I considered but aren't currently writing for. Look forward to that if you like seeing the ideas I come up with.
Also, Power Stones. Hand them over before things get crazy.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
ISpyExp
ISpyExp “Hard work is worthless for those that don't believe in themselves.” - Naruto Uzumaki
My boy spitting the truth. Listen and obey.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
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